AQMRC Responds to Consultations

This autumn has seen a frenzy of consultation deadlines, and over last week AQMRC has sent in responses to the consultations on the new UK LAQM Guidance and the National Health Service Carbon Reduction Strategy.  For further information on our views, please contact us at aqmrc@uwe.ac.uk

Enda presents...IUAPPA - NACA conference South Africa

Dr Enda Hayes will be presenting two papers at the 16th International Union of Air Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection Associations (IUAPPA) regional conference in association with the annual meeting of the National Association for Clean Air (NACA) in South Africa this week. The conference will be held from 1st - 3rd October near the beautiful Kruger National Park under the theme of "Where did all the Clean Air go?". Enda will be presenting papers entitled: "Ten years of air quality management in the UK: A model for the South African National Framework on air quality" and "The potential impact from increased use of wood-fuelled biomass on local air quality in London: Lessons to exchange with mega-cities in developing countries". Photos have been promised...as promised.

Research showcase posters

The Sustainable Energy and the Environment Research Showcase at Bath University on Wednesday 17th September was a resounding success with hundreds of delegates attending from academia and industry. The event provided a perfect opportunity for dissemination of the broad range of PhD and research projects currently being undertaken by the AQMRC.

Click on the following titles to link to the posters posted on the AQMRC website:

Integrated Management of Nitrogen Dioxide in Wales (Ross Hunter);
Innovative Learning Opportunities to Build Capacity and Capability in Air Quality and Carbon Management (Nurul Leksmono);
Progress, Barriers and Opportunities for the Co-management of Air Pollution and Carbon Emissions in South West England (Simon Baldwin);
Applying Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques to Air Quality and Carbon Management - a Case Study of Gas Flaring in the Niger Delta (Mofoluso Fagbeja);
Carbon Management at the City Scale: An Exploration of the Carbon Futures for the Bristol Region (Rose Bailey);
Managing Air Quality through the Local Planning Process: Challenges, Barriers and Opportunities (Dotun Olowoporoku).

Air Pollution 2008 Skiathos, Greece, 22-24 September

The 16th annual conference on Air Pollution Modelling, Monitoring and Management opens on Monday 22nd September. Organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology and co-chaired by Professor Carlos Brebbia of WIT and AQMRC's Professor Jim Longhurst, this conference will debate contemporary issues in the science and management of air pollution. AQMRC will be well represented at the conference with research students Dotun Olowoporoku , Simon Baldwin and Mofoluso Fagbeja presenting at their first international conference. Visiting Professor Jimi Irwin and Jim Longhurst will also be presenting.

The following papers will be published in the conference book published in hard back by WIT Press:

J.W.S. Longhurst, J.G. Irwin, T.J. Chatterton, E.T. Hayes, N.S. Leksmono &J.K. Symons (2008, forthcoming). The Development and Operation of the United Kingdom’s Air Quality Management Regime. In Brebbia, C.A. & Longhurst, J.W.S. (Editors) Air Pollution XVI. WIT Press. Southampton and Boston.

M.A., Fagbeja, T. Chatterton, J.W.S. Longhurst, J.O. Akinyede & J.O. Adegoke (2008, forthcoming). Air pollution and management in the Niger Delta - emerging issues. In Brebbia, C.A. & Longhurst, J.W.S. (Editors) Air Pollution XVI. WIT Press. Southampton and Boston.

S.T. Baldwin, M. Everard, E.T. Hayes, J.W.S. Longhurst & J.R. Merefield (2008, forthcoming) Integrating local air quality and carbon management at a regional and local governance level: a case study of south west England. In Brebbia, C.A. & Longhurst, J.W.S. (Editors) Air Pollution XVI. WIT Press. Southampton and Boston.

A.O. Olowoporoku, E. T. Hayes, N.S. Leksmono, J.W.S. Longhurst, & G. P. Parkhurst (2008, forthcoming) Are environmental health officers and transport planners in English local authorities working together to achieve air quality objectives? In Brebbia, C.A. & Longhurst, J.W.S. (Editors) Air Pollution XVI. WIT Press. Southampton and Boston.

I. Gegisian, M. Grey, J.W.S. Longhurst & J.G. Irwin (2008, forthcoming) Potential contribution of local air quality management to environmental justice in England. In Brebbia, C.A. & Longhurst, J.W.S. (Editors) Air Pollution XVI. WIT Press. Southampton and Boston.

Sustainable Energy and the Environment Research Showcase

The AQMRC and PhD students will be presenting eight posters of their research at the Sustainable Energy and the Environment Research Showcase at Bath University on Wednesday 17th September www.bath.ac.uk/engineering/showcase/ . The event will showcase a range of innovative and cutting-edge research in sustainable energy and the environment, including: climate change, energy demand reduction, energy infrastructure, integration and economics, energy storage, healthy environments, integrated appraisal of low carbon energy technologies, energy sources, vehicle and transportation systems, sustainable fuels, power generation and supply.

AQMRC research presented will cover:

A National Framework for Air Quality in South Africa (Tim Chatterton);

Ten Years of Local Air Quality Management: Lessons for Regulation and Practice (Enda Hayes);

Innovative Learning Opportunities to Build Capacity and Capability in Air Quality and Carbon Management (Nurul Leksmono);

Integrated Management of Nitrogen Dioxide in Wales (Ross Hunter);

Progress, Barriers and Opportunities for the Co-management of Air Pollution and Carbon Emissions in South West England (Simon Baldwin);
Applying Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques to Air Quality and Carbon Management - a Case Study of Gas Flaring in the Niger Delta (Mofoluso Fagbeja);
Carbon Management at the City Scale: An Exploration of the Carbon Futures for the Bristol Region (Rose Bailey);
Managing Air Quality through the Local Planning Process: Challenges, Barriers and Opportunities (Dotun Olowoporoku).

RSC Environmental Chemistry Group

Jo Barnes, Honorary Secretary of the Royal Society of Chemistry's Environmental Chemistry Committee, attended their 152nd meeting at Burlington House, Piccadilly on Wednesday 3rd September. Topics of discussion included the forthcoming annual Distinguished Guest Lecture on 4th March 2009 entitled 'The Future of Water'; preparation for a student seminar on Atmospheric Chemistry next spring; and a Contaminated Land meeting planned for the autumn. Details of forthcoming events will appear on the website http://www.rsc.org/Membership/Networking/InterestGroups/Environmental/index.asp along with other information about the ECG, including back copies of their bi-annual Bulletin newsletter.

Jo has been acting as Hon. Sec. for this eminent Interest Group for the last three years and is pleased to continue the role with the support of the AQMRC.

AQB website review

Air quality webnerds everywhere wept for joy (or otherwise) as the much anticipated annual Air Quality Bulletin website review was published today. Sadly the AQMRC website dwindled into 17th place due to its blindingly "brash red colour" while South Yorks Care4Air (http://www.care4air.org/) clinched the top slot despite a gibe from editor, Jack Pease, over their colour scheme. The CAQF website (http://www.caqf.org.uk/) was a new entry to the top twenty with its all new look and updated content, and [suspiciously!] the AQB website managed to make the top ten! We're not envious - just basking in the subtle shades of their website!!

New recruit at AQMRC

Jo Barnes has recently joined the Air Quality Management Resource Centre (AQMRC) at UWE as a Research Associate following a very enjoyable and rewarding four-year "apprenticeship" at the Air Quality Unit (AQU) at Cornwall College. Despite frequent allusions to her apparent lack of sanity, Jo has left the balmy climes of Falmouth and set up home in drizzly "Brizzle"!

Tim writes piece for Environmental Health News

Tim was invited to write an opinion piece for Environmental Health News on the need to balance the climate change agenda with public health and other environmental issues.  The piece was published in EHN on 15th February and can be accessed on the website of the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health here.

AQMRC Contributes to SEPHO report on Transport and Public Health

The AQMRC has helped the South East Public Health Observatory compile a section on air pollution in its new report "Choosing Health in the South East: Road Transport and Public Health".  The report can be downloaded from the SEPHO website here.

 

AQMRC hosts successful Environmental Protection UK National Student Showcase

AQMRC hosted a very successful National Student Showcase for the charity Environmental Protection UK  on 31^st July. The day consisted of a number of presentations from students representing various UK universities, and covered a variety of environmental topics. AQMRC PhD students were well represented: Simon Baldwin presented his research on integrating carbon management and local air quality management, Dotun Olowoporoku presented his research on managing local air quality through local transport planning, and Rose Bailey introduced her research on carbon management in Bristol. Other student presentations covered the subjects of hydrogen deposition and geothermal energy. The winner of the competition was Ben Williams from Portsmouth University, who presented on the development of an empirical dust dispersion model based on sample geochemistry. Ben will be presenting his work at the Environmental protection UK conference in February 2009.

 

Environmental Protection UK National Student Showcase

The Air Quality Management Resource Centre, UWE has a long standing history of working closely with the national environmental charity - Environmental Protection UK . Part of that working relationship includes hosting the Environmental Protection UK National Student Day in which students from UK institutions are given the opportunity to present their research which covers a range of environmental issues.

This years event is in Room 2L4 on Thursday 31st of July starting at 11am. Please come along if any of the topics tweaks your interest.

Speaker and topics include (this may not be the order of presentations on the day):
1) Rose Bailey (UWE) - Carbon management at the city scale: An exploration of the carbon futures for the Bristol region.
2) Simon Baldwin (UWE) - Integrating local air quality and carbon management at a local and regional governance level.
3) Aoife Grant (Bristol University) - Calculation of the deposition velocity of hydrogen and their use in regional and global climate prediction models.
4) Dotun Olowoporoku (UWE) - Managing local air quality through Local Transport Planning - are we there yet?
5) John Taylor (University of Exeter) - To what extent can geothermal resources contribute to sustainable development at the community scale?
6) Ben Williams (Portsmouth University) - The development of an empirical dust dispersion model based on sample geochemistry.

UWE now ranked third in UK for sustainability

UWE has jumped five places in People and Planet's league table for sustainable universities and is now ranked THIRD out of all (>120) UK Universities. The assessment criteria are updated every year to reflect the great improvements being made in environmental policies and performance in the UK Higher Education system, and to help drive further improvements and the turning of policies into actions.  This year the assessment was made over 9 key indicators:

Management and Policy
- Publicly available environmental policy
- Full-time environment staff
- Comprehensive environmental auditing
- Fairtrade University accreditation
- Ethical investment policy

Performance
- Energy sources
- Percentage of waste recycled
- Carbon emissions per head
- Water consumption per head

 

More information on UWE's performance

http://info.uwe.ac.uk/news/UWENews/article.asp?item=1302&year=2008

The full People and Planet league table

http://peopleandplanet.org/gogreen/greenleague2008

Air Pollution and Meteorological Data @ UWE

Following the recent installation of pollution monitors at the University, air quality and meteorological is now available online from the UWE website. Simply go to our homepage www.uwe.ac.uk/aqm and use the buttons Weather@UWE and Pollution@UWE to go to the data of your choice.

Dotun to present at TPM 2008

Dotun had his paper accepted by Planning and Transport, Research and Computation (PTRC) the organisers of the 6th annual Transport Practitioners Meeting (TPM) 2008 in Reading. Dotun will be speaking at the conference on 16th of July, 2008 to a broad range of transport engineers, planners and urban transport designers on some of the findings of his research.

Consultation - draft LAQM Policy & Technical Guidance

The New Policy Guidance and Technical Guidance on local air quality management are out for consultation. All UK local authorities are invited to comment by 26 September 2008.
Please follow this link for more information and to download the guidance documents: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/airqualitymanage-guidance/

Simon delivered presentation at Environment Agency Air Quality Conference - 24 June 2008

Simon gave a presentation at the annual Air Quality Conference held by the Environment Agency at Aston University, Birmingham. The presentation focused on the importance of collaboration between professionals working in the field of air quality and carbon management and presented the main conclusions of his first round of questionnaires. The presentation was well received by the audience of air quality experts and practitioners. Other presentation on the agenda included: policy updates for air quality management; dealing with air quality in major incidents; and future scenarios for climate change and air quality.

"Chatterton" in AQB Double Page Spread

Following his recent presentation to June's IAPSC meeting in London on the growth of Air Quality Management Areas, the presentation and an additional interview with AQB editor Jack Pease formed the basis of a double page feature article in July's Air Quality Bulletin (http://www.empublishing.org.uk/air/)  In the article "Chatterton" (as he is constantly referred to as) describes the problems of reporting AQMA statistics, describes the progressive growth in AQMAs and the reasons why we still keep on needing more, and makes some predictions for the future about what will happen next.....

 

AQMRC, UWE in Top 20 Consultancies

A recent ranking of UK air quality consultancies carried out by Air Quality Bulletin ( http://www.empublishing.org.uk/air/ ) has ranked AQMRC, UWE in the top 20 (of over 50 consultancies).  The rankings are based solely on self-reported numbers of "full-time equivalent people working on AQ - excluding technical and support staff" and so placings must be interpreted with caution as quantity may not necessarily relate to quantity.  We believe however that the rating demonstrates we have a strong capacity within the AQ field, yet remain compact enough to retain a personal touch and gain the benefits of working in a closely co-ordinated environment.

Launch of the Institute for Sustainability, Health and Environment

The University of the West of England celebrates the launch of a new Research and Knowledge Exchange Institute, the Institute for Sustainability, Health and Environment (ISHE), that brings together the research expertise from three distinct areas of expertise for which UWE has become renowned.

The new Institute will work with over 100 organisations and agencies in its Sustainability, Health and Environment work and will be able to draw upon expertise from 32 Research Centres and over 600 programmes of study offered by UWE. The new Institute's expertise will cover public and environmental health; spatial and transport planning; leisure, tourism and society; sustainable and healthy communities; governance and democracy; air quality management; low carbon technology and management; environmental science; environmental justice; plant science; biomedicine, clinical and health services. ISHE will be Co-directed by Professor Jim Longhurst (Associate Dean in the Faculty of Environment and Technology, and Director of the Air Quality Management Resource Centre) and Judy Orme (Reader and Director of the Centre for Public Health Research in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences).

Professor Jim Longhurst explains, “We have noticed an increasing synergy in projects that blend health and the environment. The new Institute will enable us to strengthen our international reputation in these key research areas. These areas are critically important to society as we all strive towards a lower carbon lifestyle in the future.

Focusing on health and wellbeing in later life, a conference entitled 'Sustainable Futures in an Ageing World' will be held at UWE in September. For more details of the Institute visit http://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/ishe.